The popularity of cremation is growing within modern society as an alternative to preserving bodies and burying them in coffins. Cremation is also becoming a popular method of dealing with pet remains. Cremation is usually less expensive and more ecological than burial. It also offers living individuals an opportunity to keep some of the deceased's ashes close to them. Often a memorial is created at the location of the cremated remains to commemorate the deceased's life and provide a focal point to connect with the deceased's spirit.
In death, many individuals wish to continue a connection or link to the living world. This connection may be spiritual between the deceased and their relatives or the connection may take a more physical form such as between the deceased's remains and nature. For example, the deceased may wish to have their remains incorporated into a living tree. U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,488 to Truong and U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,501 to Vázquez-Pérez both propose mixing ashes with soil and planting a tree that will grow from the mixture. A plaque may be attached to the tree to identify specific remains with a specific tree. In a similar approach, U.S. Pat. No. 5,815,897 to Longstreth provides for a planter having a vault for holding cremation remains. The plant grows near the ashes, but the plant is not integrally linked to the ashes.
The above mentioned options offer some degree of integration between a particular deceased's ashes and a particular living tree or plant. These options, however, do not address other possibilities for connecting with a plant such as entombment of the remains within the plant, multiple connections of multiple individual's remains with a single plant, or temporary links to a plant allowing for future movement of the ashes. Furthermore prior art options do not provide for both the integration of the ash remains with a plant and an additional connection for a loved one to connect with the ashes.